Exempts Wantagh school district from regulations regarding the use of indigenous mascots

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Steve Rhoads says this is needed

On July 4, 1657, Chief Wantagh, Sachem of the Meroke tribe and Grand Sachem of the larger Montaukett tribe signed a compact with local sett- lers resolving 14 years of disputes over the settlement of lands a portion of which presently constitute the Long Island community that bears his name. Wantagh was originally settled as Jerusalem in 1644, with the southern portion of the community becoming Ridgewood in 1867 when the Long Island Railroad built a station in the community. In 1891, however, when the United States Postal Service would not grant Ridgewood a post office due to a conflict in name with Ridgewood, Queens, Thomas Seaman, a descen- dent of the original Seaman and Jackson families that settled the area of present-day Wantagh and of John Seaman who himself was a signatory on the 1657 land compact executed by Chief Wantagh, led the effort to rename the community in honor of the former Grand Sachem who helped to bring peace to the area nearly 250 years before. This history was recog- nized by historical markers from the Town of Hempstead and the State Education Department. Since the creation of Wantagh High School in 1956, Wantagh has used the name "Wantagh Warriors" with the logo of the profile of an Indian head in full headdress as a tribute to the historic origins of the community it serves and to the Grand Sachem who made that possible. For almost 70 years, these emblems of good faith and community have united the people of Wantagh and served as a treasured reminder of their storied past. That legacy has been embraced by the Wantagh School District which in 1966 added local community history and the role of Chief Wantagh to the seventh-grade curriculum so students could understand the origins of both the town as well as appreciate the meaning of the Warriors name. The choice of the Wantagh Warriors was not an attempt to be trite, catchy or offensive. It was chosen to honor their past not as conquerors or as pilgrims but as a proud community celebrating the history upon which they founded their town. It was chosen to pay tribute to Chief Wantagh himself, the man who made possible the very community that honors him today. The State Education Department's state-wide mandate and universal ban on the use of indigenous names, logos and mascots fails to account for situations like Wantagh's where the origins, history and circumstances of their use celebrate rather than denigrate the legacy of Long Island's indigenous peoples. Certainly, as it pertains to Wantagh, the applica- tion of this mandate will erase rather than celebrate that history. The Wantagh School District has voluntarily retired its mascot but wish- es to retain and rebrand the Warriors name. That request has, without explanation, been denied by the SED, despite the continued use of the Warriors name by other school districts throughout the State. This legislation would allow Wantagh to continue to embrace the Warriors for what that word means: survivors, protectors, a people united to do what must be done to survive and allow Wantagh's schools to continue to provide our children with the most important of all education, the abil- ity to investigate the past and find the same strength of character to fight for their future.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.